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Young Adults

Whatcom County (Washington) teen librarian Aubri Keleman has promised to dye her hair if the kids in her library's summer reading program make 400 online posts about the books they are reading by August 17th. As of the news report today, they are less than 120 posts away from the goal. No word yet on what color she will use, but she says it will be "satisfyingly shocking."

Penguin Group has partnered with Piczo, a teen-oriented social networking zone, for the PiczoMYPenguin contest. Penguin asked six popular musical acts to name a favorite Penguin Classic book and design a cover for each, then challenged Piczo members: "Think YOU can do better???" Entrants can pick one of the six books and create a Piczo page for the cover. The bands will pick their favorite designs, and winners can get CDs from the bands, a set of the books, and exclusive limited edition images of the bands' cover designs.

Tragic story from Wisconsin where 16-year old Eric Hainstock, who has been in trouble practically all his life and has been diagnosed with ADHD among other developmental issues, is now on trial for shooting and killing his high school principal, John Klang, last September. He is being tried as an adult.

The shooting had been preceded by an incident when Hainstock threw a stapler at a teacher.

Librarian Kay Amborn testified Friday that Hainstock, 16, seemed "proud" a week later on Sept. 21 when he saw a story about the incident published in the Reedsburg Independent, showed it to several other students and asked Amborn to make a copy of it for him. She declined.

"He said he wanted a copy for his dad, because his dad didn't get the newspaper," Amborn testified. Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Michele Gorman writes "Hello teen librarians, LSTs, youth advocates, library school professors, grad school students, and anyone else who might have an interest in helping shape the next edition of Connecting Young Adults and Libraries, the book that Mary K. Chelton claims "has everything — clear philosophical goals for the service grounded in developmental assets; an incredible list of how-tos by authors who have been there, done that; a lively text; and a rock-solid understanding of the real kids who need us, not the fantasy kids we often confuse with them.
If you have read or used the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd edition of our professional book, Connecting Young Adults and Libraries, we need your feedback to help make the 4th edition as comprehensive and practical as possible. We will be collecting all survey responses on Monday, July 24.

If you have a copy of any edition of Connecting Young Adults and Libraries, it might be helpful to have it in front of you as you answer these questions. It's not necessary, just helpful. When you're ready to begin, click on this link to get started with the simple 10 question survey. If you'd like to leave the survey at any time, just click "Exit this survey". Your answers will be saved.

Anonymous Patron writes "The New Britain Connecticut Public Library was the second stop for famous rock and band The High Strung. The "Detroit-based band that sounds like the Beatles with a funkier edge, played a 12-song, one-hour set to about 50 library patrons of all ages. The basement concert kicked off the library's summer programming for teenagers." ROck-N-Roll with it here."

How cool would you feel if you were a teenager again and got a raffle ticket for "Radically Good Behavior?!" What do you mean, not very?!! Over at The Longmont, Colorado Public Library it seems to be Actually Working. Library staff say they've noticed a significant decrease in rowdy behavior since the raffles started, in part because their focus has shifted away from the disruptive teens who previously monopolized their attention.

"It's good for the kids who are ignored for always behaving well and for the kids who don't always behave well but are in a given moment," said librarian Margaret Hyatt.
Maybe those disruptive teens were just looking for some attention after all.

David Rothman spotted This Associated Press piece on a parent whose 15-year-old learned from a school library book how to sniff nail polish remover wants books with such specific drug information removed.

At the very least, Sherri Walter and her mother, Stephanie Kelly, say certain books should be flagged and require parental permission before they can be checked out by their children.